E…T…C…

Johan Santana had a 6.35 earned run average after the season opener, and then proceeded to lower his ERA in nine straight starts. From May 17-28 he suffered a little hiccup –during that span he went from an ERA of 3.23 to 3.47– but since then he has lowered it again in six consecutive starts.

When you consider that Santana’s ERA stood at 5.71 on April 15, and is now at an American League-leading 2.59, it’s pretty astonishing. The guy has shaved more than three runs off his earned run average in two-and-a-half months.

This is pretty telling, from Jayson Stark at ESPN:

Normally, it’s not quite we-interrupt-this-program news when a DH hits a home run. But when Twins DH Jason Kubel homered June 13, that was a major development.

Why? Because it was the first home run all year by any Twins starting DH. Michael Cuddyer homered, while pinch-hitting for the DH, on April 19. But it took a mind-boggling 63 games for a starting DH to make a trot. Which caused loyal reader Kris Breuing to wonder if that set some kind of record for “DH wimpiness.”

Turns out: Did it ever.

According to Elias, that’s the most consecutive homerless games by any team’s starting DHs since the invention of DH-ness in 1973. The old record was held by…the Twins (who needed 47 games in 1990). Elsewhere in the division, White Sox starting DHs (i.e. Jim Thome) hit 21 homers before Twins DHs hit any.


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